Decoration of Christmas trees with ornaments, garland, tinsel and lights has been a tradition for millions of families for centuries. Indeed, millions of dollars are expended on Christmas tree decorations each year. Often times, ornaments are given as gifts to memorialize a visited place, or an event. Indeed, many families preserve Christmas tree ornaments which they have received from other family members and friends as keepsakes or even family heirlooms.
In addition to giving ornaments as gifts, many consumers collect ornaments. As such, consumers are interested in finding new and novel forms of ornaments, including different shapes, sizes, and colors. Additionally, consumers search for unique designs and compositions of ornaments, such as ornaments which include tinsel, electric lights, or consumable material. In light of the extremely large market for ornaments, consumers can find varying types of ornaments. Unfortunately, most of the commercially available ornaments are not of a personal nature for the individuals receiving or purchasing them.
To obtain more personal ornaments, some people make their own ornaments. For instance, hollow balls that can be filled with pictures or other materials are available, as well as, kits for painting precast ceramic ornaments, and clear plastic or glass balls. Although these ornaments allow the ornament to be personalized, once completed, these ornaments are static and cannot be changed. Further still, most people do not have the time to make these ornaments, and thus by default, they must avail themselves of the commercially available ones.
Traditionally, Christmas tree ornaments and similar objects have performed a simple ornamentation function and have not performed additional functions, such as interactive functions, wherein the ornaments provide users with the ability to play interactive games on or with the ornaments, or with other persons via the ornaments. Thus, the traditional ornaments usefulness is merely decorative.
A need in the industry exists for an ornamental system and apparatus which can be dynamically altered to suit the mood of the decorator to allow personalization of the ornament or to communicate multi-sensory information to one or more persons viewing, listening to, or otherwise encountering the ornament. A further need exists for an ornamental system, wherein a plurality of ornamental apparatuses can be coordinated within a single location or between multiple remote locations. A still further need exists for an ornamental system wherein persons may control one or a plurality of ornamental apparatuses on a Christmas tree or other location via controllers, such as computer game controllers or remote controls to provide users with the ability to play games or select content displayed on an ornament or a plurality of ornaments in a single location or multiple locations, including remote locations connected via a wide area computer network.